Playing til it hurts

[ApeDosMil]

Can this really mess your hands up? I always that it was a no pain no gain thing?

[kmanick]

Re: Playing til it hurts

hurts how?
Sometimes if I play for 3 or more hours straight the ends of my fingers kill for like 2 days, but then I'm fine.
is that the kind of pain you're talking about or is it muscular pain?

[ApeDosMil]

Re: Playing til it hurts

like the pain of doing chromatics for a long time at a certain speed that makes your hands hurt.

or the pain of learning something new your hands arent really used to.

[SEEGERMANY]

Re: Playing til it hurts

[ QUOTE ]
Can this really mess your hands up? I always that it was a no pain no gain thing?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes. Playing till you experience pain or worse yet, playing through the pain, can be detrimental to your hands. In some case, nerve damage can be permanent. Pain is an indication of damage. It's the bodies way of saying "go boink the old lady and forget guitar for an hour or two."

[kmanick]

Re: Playing til it hurts

Ya ok I get it. I get that type of "cramping pain" when I practice certain things for an extended period of time that my hands aren't used to. (like the beginning of the solo in Yngwies "I'll see the Light tonight" if I practice that "pedal type of movement for an extended period of time me hands cramp and I have to stop.
GermanDeath is right stop, stretch out your hands take a break and come back to it later.

[thetroy]

Re: Playing til it hurts

Well just normal acid buildup from muscle fatigue is good, but other stuff is bad. My wrist has been sore since Monday and I'm scared to really play my guitar now, it sucks.

[Ace]

Re: Playing til it hurts

There are different kinds of "hurts". If you feel something of a burning in your muscles, that is lactic acid and it means that your muscles are breaking down to rebuild stronger. It should be sort of a burning pain that comes on sort of slowly and have a bit of stiffness along with it. You will usually feel it in your forearms or the meatier parts of your hand. Any pain you feel in your joints or tendons is BAD pain, and is a sign of injury. These pains are usually sharp and located more in the hands. If you feel this pain, STOP.

[childrenob]

Re: Playing til it hurts

When I practice legato my forearm usually hurts after a while. What I do is finish the exercise, then massage my forearm and after a minute continue. The pain always comes at the end of the exercise.

[shredmonster]

Re: Playing til it hurts

Sounds like muscle cramps and lactic acid build up. I get the same thing.
But then again, I look at guitar playing like weightlifting. If you are working hard it will hurt from time to time.

Ace is right on though - have to watch for tendon damage, carpal tunnel, etc...

Cramping, fatigue is usual. Burning or sharp pains may be a more significant thing indicating the potential for serious damage if you continue.

Conservation of movement is the best cure - along with some rest and alcohol...hehehehehehehehe

[DCZX]

Re: Playing til it hurts

Remember to do warmup patterns and excercises before playing anything.

[Snoopy]

Re: Playing til it hurts

I used to have the same problem, try to keep your hands relaxed, don't strain. Most guitarist's don't even realize that sometimes they reach a certain point were they are fighting the guitar, they end up pinching the pick harder and press on the neck even more. This is when the cramps kick in, the guitar starts to come out of tune, then there is alot of background noise from your hand scraping against the strings.

[tseegert]

Re: Playing til it hurts

yah, what DCZX said, WARM UP. Start easy, work up to the tension-building stuff. Save them wrists boys [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[ApeDosMil]

Re: Playing til it hurts

Thanks for the tips.

another question, what causes lactic acid? food? i would try to avoid these if it can prevent the acid..

[Ace]

Re: Playing til it hurts

Lactic acid is formed by your body in your muscles. It breaks them down, and when they rebuild, they are stronger. That's what bodybuilders talk about when they say "feel the burn".

[Emthrax]

Re: Playing til it hurts

Lactic acid build-up occurs in your muscles during intense anaerobic exercise, when your body cannot get enough oxygen to your muscles continuously. Basically what happens is when muscles contract vigorously for long periods of time, the circulatory system has a harder time delivering oxygen-rich blood. It has nothing to do with food.
Athletes (runners, for example) will experience temporary muscle pain shortly afterwards if they have not warmed up and warmed down sufficiently.

I suppose temporary muscle soreness after practicing could be attributed to some lactic acid, but I highly doubt it. Lactic acid starts to accumulate in the muscles once you are exercising above your anaerobic threshold. (about 85% and 90% of your maximum heart rate).
That means your heart rate needs to increase.

You've been given the best advice already... warm-up and warm-down and stop if you feel pain. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Em